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Throwback Thursday R&B: Lady Marmalade-LaBelle

LaBelle is an American all female R&B vocal group that rose to prominence during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the Philadelpia/Trenton area, the Ordettes and the Del-Capris. They later changed their name to The Blue Belles, and later The Bluebelles. The group’s original line-up consisted of Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendrix, Sarah Dash and Cindy Birdsong. The group initially found success with ballads and doo-wop style numbers, most notably “Down The Aisle (The Wedding Song”, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Over The Rainbow” among others. Following Cindy Birdsong’s departure to join the Supremes in 1976, the remaining trio, at the suggestion of manager Vicki Wickham, changed their look, musical direction and style and reformed as LaBelle in 1971. After adopting glam rock and sporting outlandish space-age glam rock costumes, the group found success with the single “Lady Marmalade” in 1974. The song was taken from the album “Nightbirds”, which was the group’s most successful album. LaBelle disbanded in 1976. Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendrix and Sarah Dash all went on to have successful solo careers.